Graduation March
by tiff0795
Summary: It's the day they've all been waiting for: the gang is finally graduating high school.


"It's the big day! Oh I'm so excited!" Didi said, snapping pictures of the group.

"It wasn't enough with me and Susie and Chuckie?" Angelica said from behind the cameras with the rest of the adults.

"What are you going to do next year when it happens to me?" Dil asked.

"My face hurts," Phil said, posing for pictures with his sister, Kimi and Tommy.

"It hurts me, too," Lil retorted, which caused the other kids to laugh. They were all in long gowns, with Tommy and Phil wearing red and Kimi and Lil wearing white. They all had on flat square cap on with red and white tassels on their right side.

"I was more than excited when you three graduated from high school, it's just that now we have a whole group taking the next step," Didi said "and Dil, when you graduate, I know I'll be old."

"So, what do you kids have to say about taking the next step in your lives?" Chaz said.

"I'm so excited! I can't wait to walk down the isle and get my diploma after eighteen years!" Kimi said.

"Says you, before I get my diploma, I have to give a speech," Tommy said.

"Have you forgotten, so do I?" Kimi asked. Tommy smiled and shrugged.

"What is your speech going to be about, Tommy?" Betty asked.

"I guess what valedictorian speeches normally are about, going off to the next chapter of our lives and reminiscing on our time spent in high school," Tommy said.

"So you haven't wrote it, huh?" Chuckie asked.

"I wrote it," Tommy said.

"Flash cards and winging it?" Angelica asked.

"Hey, it's not like you got valedictorian," Tommy retorted.

"Yeah, but I did," Susie said, and I wrote the speech the night before, not the hour before."

"What, no love for the salutatorian, who actually prepared her speech?" Kimi said.

"What's your speech about, Kimi?" Chuckie asked.

"Well, it was going to be about coming to this milestone, but knowing how well Tommy can do with improvising, I may have to change mine," Kimi said.

"I have to give a speech, too," Lil said, being the senior class president.

"Yes, we all know I'm the only one who doesn't have to give a speech," Phil said, being in his sister's shadow as senior class vice president.

"But Tommy is the only one who hasn't written a speech," Dil said.

"I did write white a speech!" Tommy retorted. "It just has some room for ad-lib!"

"It's time to go, kids," Kira said.

"One more picture!" Didi said. "Dil, get next to Tommy. Angelica, stand by your cousins. Chuckie, stand by your sister. Susie, you can stand where ever you want." All of the kids got into position and the adults all started snapping pictures.

"Okkay, one more," Didi said.

"You said that last time," Dil said.

"Grads, line up in birth order," Didi said, ignoring her son's comment.

Angelica, Dil, Susie, and Chuckie all sidestepped out of the way as Tommy stepped toward his left, followed by Phil, then Lil, and finally Kimi. They stood up straight and the adults snapped the picture.

"Alright, everyone else get in," Howard said. Dil went to the other side of Tommy, with Chuckie on the other side of Kimi, and Susie and Angelica taking their positions as the pictures were snapped.

"Alright, now time for a funny one," Chaz said. Dil stood on his head, and Tommy did a trust fall onto Phil, who did the same to Lil, going down the row until they all fell onto Angelica. Knowing the kids couldn't hold the position for a long time, the adults quickly snapped pictures.

"Tassel in my mouth! Honestly, Kimi, I already had that last year, I don't need it again," Chuckie said.

"Sorry, it was Tommy's idea," Kimi said.

"Yeah, Dil was the only one who didn't follow suit," Tommy said.

"You're the youngest and the natural leader, who's to say I can't be, too?" Dil asked.

Tommy rolled his eyes as Stu clapped his hands. "Alright, guys, no more fooling around, we have to go," Stu said.

"Let's load them up and move them out," Betty said and everyone walked to the car.

Once everyone got to the stadium and the kids were all in position, more pictures were taken. They were all in the front row, so it was incredibly easy to get pictures of them.

When the principal introduced Tommy to give his speech , the whole stadium erupted in applause.

"This should be good," Kimi whispered to Lil.

Tommy walked up to the podium and adjusted the microphone. "My fellow classmates," Tommy said. "I am proud to say that I have the pleasure of graduating with my friends that I have known since I was in diapers," he said, gesturing to the front row. "And, I know there's more than just my small group of friends graduating today, but I just want to say some stuff that applies to all of us, but are somewhat of inside jokes for us.

"You know, every birthday, our mom and dad would say 'you're another year older', 'another year wiser'. But we'd still go to school to get an education. We'd treat each and every day as a mini vacation, and I hope we can still do that, even in our next step, as our lives may pull us different ways. It is amazing how far we've come. Let me tell you, there was one point, where getting out of the playpen with my plastic screwdriver was an adventure. Now it's getting into the right college with a letter of recommendation. Honesty, I didn't really have a speech planned, maybe because I was in denial. I don't want to believe that maybe, someday, all of us will drift appart, but, isn't that what growing up is all about? Isn't taking leaps of faith what got us here in the first place? So, my fellow graduates, I have no idea what the future holds for us, but all I can say is we need to take a leap of faith, and get as excited about every little think as if we were still in diapers playing pretend. Back then, when we had that 'anything can happen' attitude, and the sky was the limit. When it wasn't a question of if we would do it, it was a question of how we were going to do it. We have to look at our future strong-willed, knowing that this is OUR future, and no one can tell us otherwise. So, before I hand it over to my good friend, Kimi, I just want to say, hang onto your diapies, babies. We're going in!" A roar of applause erupted as Tommy made his way back to his seat, high-fiving the group along the way. As the applause was dying down, Kimi made her way up to the podium.

"Well, I did have a speech planned, but like I told Tommy before we got here, with him ad-libbing, I would need to think of something else on the fly, so here it goes," Kimi started. "Ever since I came to America, these have been my friends. Coming to a strange country, having a new dad, a new brother, a new life and a new last name was quite a lot for someone to handle, especially when that person wasn't even two yet. These guys, however, helped me make this a smooth adjustment and I just can't believe I am where I am now, giving your speech as salutatorian, and who better to lose out on valedictorian to anyone other than Tommy? This change that we're about to take is a lot like what I went through. Our whole world is turning upside-down. The only places we'll be able to look to is our friends. So, Tommy, I sincerely hope we all do stay in touch, because I don't know if I would make it without you guys. Now, I wish I would have a funny, nastolgic catch phrase like Tommy did to sign off before handing it over to Lil, but I just want to say a line from Emica, you remember, that singer that was really popular when we were in middle school? One of her songs goes: you're a friend to me, I'm a friend to you. When the good old bad times, we'll see it through. That was true then, it is true now, and I'm saying it now, it will be true for the rest of our lives." Another round of applause erupted as Kimi walked back to her seat, greeted again by hands out for a high-five as Lil made her way up to the podium.

"Well, Tommy and Kimi made me have my work cut out for me," Lil said. "Never the less, we've been together for forever, and I sure hope Kimi's right, and it does stay that way. I remember us getting lost in the woods and Paris and on a deserted island; we just got lost a lot of times, but we were always together, and when we were all together, we knew that nothing could happen to us. Instead of a traumatizing experience, it was a wonderful adventure. Now, Phil is the only one of us who didn't get to give a speech, so I have taken the liberty of reading the poem that he wrote last night. It was so great, I thought I should share it with all of you.

"The tassels are turned;  
The caps have been thrown.  
After eighteen long years,  
I guess that we're grown.

We marched up on stage  
In neat little rows  
For a diploma, a handshake,  
And a photo that's posed.

Our parents cried,  
And I'll admit, so did we,  
As our full names were called  
All six hundred fifteen.

Now, if you're like me,  
You're thinking, "What's next?  
Because my whole life  
Has been homework and tests."

"Brush your teeth, get dressed,  
Make your way to class.  
Make yourself do your best,  
So you can say that you've passed."

We saw our friends every day,  
Got in trouble for talking,  
But the parents are happy  
That the whole group is walking.

But now what to do  
As some of them leave,  
Some to fight for our country,  
Others, just to be free?

Some will lose contact,  
And they will be missed.  
While some simply seemed  
To forget you exist.

As we spread our wings  
And get ready to fly  
I can't help but wonder,  
Is this really goodbye?

There's only one way to find out:  
Put the peddle to the floor  
Because no matter what happens,  
We can't go back any more.

So let's catch the wind,  
And aim for the sky,  
'Cause whatever life gives us,  
We're gonna have to fly.

The laughs that we shared,  
The memories we've made,  
Are all in the past.  
Is that where they'll stay?

Now it's up to us  
To balance adult life with fun.  
To my fellow graduates:  
We're officially done!

"I hope we all do stay close, but if we don't, we always have the memories that shaped us into the people we are today. Now, I'm ready to show the world what the Rugrats and the rest of our graduating class are capable of. My only question is, are you?"

Lil went back to her seat, her too getting high-fives along the way, and the ceremony begun. The graduates were called up and handed their diplomas. At the end, the principal led the turning of the tassel from right to left. The superintendent then came up and announced their graduating class, and they through their hats up in the air. The group looked at each other through misty eyes as their families shouted from the sidelines. No matter what life would throw at them, they'd always have each other, and they couldn't wait to see what kind of adventures awaited them.


End file.
